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No. 1 Women's Swimming And Diving Finishes Perfect In Dual Meet Season With Win Over California

Stanford, Calif. - Top-ranked Stanford (8-0, 5-0 Pac-10) finished unbeaten in its dual meet season with a 159.5-140.5 victory over No. 4 California (7-2, 5-1 Pac-10) in a Pac-10 women's swimming and diving meet at Avery Aquatic Center on Saturday as both teams swam their final dual meet of the season. The dual meet victory was also the 13th in a row for the Cardinal dating back to last season. Both teams will begin their post-season action with the Pac-10 Championships from February 28-March 2.

'Overall, we've still got to get a lot sharper at the Pac-10 Championships in order to qualify more people for the NCAA's and to prepare ourselves for that meet,' said Stanford head coach Richard Quick.

Stanford won 11 of the meet's 16 events as Shelly Ripple (200 back, 200 fly, 200 IM) led the way with three individual victories. Tara Kirk (100 breast, 200 breast) won a pair of events and broke her own Avery Aquatic Center pool record in the 100 breast with a time of 1:00.23 while remaining undefeated collegiately in the event in 15 career races. Jessica Foschi (500 free, 1000 free) and McKenze Murphy (1-meter diving, 3-meter diving) also won two individual events each, while Lacey Boutwell (50 free) closed out Stanford's individual victories. Stanford's 200 medley relay team of Ripple, Kirk, Boutwell and Sara Watchorn also won and set a new pool record with a time of 1:40.87.

California's Natalie Coughlin won three individual events (200 free, 100 free, 100 fly), breaking pool records in both the 100 free (48.89) and 100 fly (52.35). Coughlin recorded a total of three NCAA 'A' marks with her two pool records and a time of 1:46.99 in the 200 free. Alice Henriques was the other individual winner for the Golden Bears in the 100 back (55.27) and also recorded an NCAA 'A' mark with a second-place finish in the 200 back (1:57.50). California was also victorious in the 400 free relay (3:25.68) with a team of Ashley Whitney, Coughlin, Michelle Harper and Danielle Becks.

Ripple remained undefeated in the 200 fly this year with her ninth straight win in the event and a time of 1:57.52. Ripple also captured the 200 back in a season-best 1:56.81 and the 200 IM in 1:59.85. All three qualified as NCAA 'A' marks.

Kirk outraced California's Staciana Stitts in both the 100 and 200 breast. She clocked in at 2:11.41 in the 200 breast to go with her pool record 1:00.23 in the 100 breast, both NCAA 'A' marks. Stitts also had NCAA 'A' marks in both events, recording a 1:01.20 in the 100 breast and a 2:11.98 in the 200 breast.

Foschi continued her dominance in the 500 free with her 18th straight victory in the event in a time of 4:47.29. She also won the 1000 free in a time of 9:59.38.

Murphy led a strong Stanford diving effort that outscored California divers, 31-9. Murphy won the 1-meter event with a score of 288.75 and the 3-meter competition with 307.20 points, both career bests.

'Diving was outstanding for us and really separated us from Cal,' added Quick.

Boutwell recorded a mark of 22.89 in her 50 free victory. She also had strong second-place showings behind Coughlin by recording NCAA 'A' marks in both the 100 free (49.46) and 100 fly (54.25).